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The NASA manager overseeing development of Boeing and SpaceX’s commercial crew ferry ships says the space agency has approved SpaceX’s proposal to strap in astronauts atop Falcon 9 rockets, then fuel the launchers in the final hour of the countdown as the company does for its uncrewed missions. The “load-and-go” procedure has become standard for SpaceX’s satellite launches, in which an automatic countdown sequencer commands chilled kerosene and cryogenic liquid oxygen to flow into the Falcon 9 rocket in the final minutes before liftoff. “From a program standpoint, we went throgh a pretty extensive process where we laid out the...

NASA is headed back to Mars! The InSight spacecraft is scheduled to rocket away from Vandenberg Air Force Base early Saturday morning. Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with NASA’s InSight lander heading to Mars to study the red planet’s interior structure. Saturday’s launch is just the first step in InSight’s voyage to Mars. Launching a probe to another planet is not routine, but most scientists will have more butterflies when InSight approaches its destination late this year. Asked whether he will be more nervous during InSight’s...

Watch as ULA's Atlas V rocket launches the AFSPC-11 for the U.S. Air Force. (fast-forward to the 20:00 mark for launch.)

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with NASA’s InSight lander heading to Mars. The two-stage rocket was assembled in three pieces, beginning with the stacking of the Atlas 5’s first stage booster March 3 at Space Launch Complex 3-East. The first stage’s RD-180 main engine will burn a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen to send the InSight spacecraft out of the Earth’s atmosphere during the first four minutes of the flight. The Atlas 5’s Centaur...

The countdown is beginning for today’s launch of the Atlas 5 rocket to haul the Air Force’s X-37B reusable spaceplane back into orbit. Clocks are picking up the seven-hour sequence of work that will prepare the booster, payload and ground systems for blastoff at 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT). Soon the launch team will begin powering up the rocket to commence standard pre-flight tests. Over the subsequent few hours, final preps for the Centaur's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen systems will be performed, along with a test of the rocket's guidance system and the first stage propulsion and hydraulic preps,...

The countdown begins anew for tonight's launch of the Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:13:30 p.m. local time (10:13:30 p.m. EST; 0313:30 GMT). "Any of the folks who get to watch this launch, which will be an evening launch, will really get to see a show both in sound and light produced," said Lt. Col. Jim Bodnar, 4th Space Launch Squadron commander at Vandenberg. Last night's initial countdown was halted due to a bleak weather forecast. Conditions are predicted to improve for tonight's try, with a 40 percent chance of acceptable...

A top secret surveillance satellite and 12 tiny co-passengers are ready for launch from California's hilly coastline late Thursday aboard an Atlas 5 rocket. The United Launch Alliance booster is set for liftoff at 11:13 p.m. PST (0713 GMT; 2:13 a.m. EST Friday) from Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Rocket: Atlas 5 Payload: AEHF 2 Date: May 4, 2012 Window: 2:42 to 4:42 p.m. EDT (11:42 a.m. - 1:42 p.m. PDT) Launch Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral, Florida After helium purge problem kept the Atlas 5 rocket on the pad Thursday afternoon, a second launch attempt is getting underway today to deploy a sophisticated and critical communications spacecraft for the U.S. government. The countdown clocks just began ticking, beginning a seven-hour sequence of work that will prepare the rocket, payload and ground systems for today's blastoff at 2:42 p.m. EDT (1842 GMT). The day's two-hour launch window stretches to 4:42...

If on the west coast, launch time scheduled for 11:38am-1:38pmLaunch Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite built by Lockheed Martin. This U.S. military spacecraft will provide highly secure communications.

Rocket: Atlas 5 Payload: AEHF 2 Date: May 3, 2012 Window: 2:46 to 4:46 p.m. EDT Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral, Florida Feed: SES 2, Transp. 21, C-band, 87° West Watch live coverage here: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av031/status.html or here: http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Webcast.shtml Welcome to liftoff day for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying the Air Force's next durable and secure communications satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency series. The countdown clocks are starting to tick right now, beginning a seven-hour sequence of work that will prepare the rocket, payload and ground systems for today's blastoff at 2:46 p.m. EDT (1846 GMT). Soon...

secretive military spacecraft resembling a small space shuttle orbiter is undergoing final processing in Florida for launch on April 19. The Air Force confirmed the critical preflight milestone in a response to written questions on Thursday. The 29-foot-long, 15-foot-wide Orbital Test Vehicle arrived in Cape Canaveral, Fla., last month according to the Air Force. The OTV spaceplane was built at a Boeing Phantom Works facility in Southern California. Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the OTV program is shrouded in secrecy, but military officials occasionally release information on the the spaceplane's progress. "It is now undergoing spacecraft processing...

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto is proceeding toward launch on Jan. 19. The launch opportunity runs from 1:08 p.m. - 3:07 p.m. EST. A power outage this morning at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, where the spacecraft will be operated in flight, had led mission managers to postpone today's launch attempt at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Power has since been restored to the Laboratory campus; the New Horizons Mission Operations Center has both primary and backup power and is ready to support tomorrow's launch.

The Atlas 5 rocket was moved from its assembly building to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 Wednesday night as the countdown continues for this morning's liftoff to send the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to the Red Planet. Launch remains scheduled for 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT).

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Space Systems Co. will team with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector to compete for full-scale development of NASA's orbital space plane. The orbital space plane program is planned as a next-generation crew rescue and transport system for the international space station. The space plane, which may include multiple vehicles, will enable a larger permanent crew to occupy the orbiting research facility, increasing science and research capabilities in space. Details of the agreement between Lockheed and Northrop, announced Monday, will be worked out in the next 90 days, Northrop Grumman spokesman Brooks McKinney said. If any of the...

<p>CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -- A Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket launched successfully from Florida with a new commercial communications satellite bound for high-Earth orbit.</p> <p>The Rainbow 1 satellite, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp. and built by Lockheed Martin Corp., was headed for a stationary orbit 22,000 miles above Earth. It should begin providing direct-to-home service to North America later this year, according to Lockheed, which built the satellite as well as the rocket.</p>

Lockheed Martin's second Atlas 5 rocket has lifted off on a mission to place the Greek Hellas Sat communications spacecraft into orbit. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:10 p.m. EDT (2210 GMT). Follow its climb to orbit in our Mission Status Center.